Thou art the sky and thou art the nest as well. O thou beautiful, there in the nest is thy love that encloses the soul with colours and sounds and odours. There comes the morning with the golden basket in her right hand bearing the wreath of beauty, silently to crown the earth. And there comes the evening over the lonely meadows deserted by herds, through trackless paths, carrying cool draughts of peace in her golden pitcher from the western ocean of rest. But there, where spreads the infinite sky for the soul to take her flight in, reigns the stainless white radiance. There is no day nor night, nor form nor colour, and never, never a word.
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Text Authorship:
- by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 67, first published 1912 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 67 [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Alexander Commins Post (1931 - 2002), "The sea of light", 1989 [ alto and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947), "Thou art - Thou art the sky", 1999 [ SATB chorus and string quartet ], from The Golden Harp, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by André Gide (1869 - 1951) , no title, appears in Gitanjali (L'Offrande lyrique), no. 67, first published 1914 ; composed by Louis Durey.
- Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Franco Alfano.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-11-03
Line count: 15
Word count: 118
Tu es le ciel et tu es le nid aussi bien. Ô toi plein de beauté ! ici, dans le nid des couleurs, des sons et des parfums, c’est ton amour qui enclôt l’âme. Voici venir le matin, avec une corbeille d’or à la main droite, que charge la guirlande de beauté dont il va sans bruit parer la terre. Et voici venir, par de vierges sentiers, le soir sur les pacages solitaires et qu’ont désertés les troupeaux ; il apporte dans sa cruche d’or le frais breuvage de la paix, flot de l’océan du repos, pris à la rive occidentale. Mais là, là où s’éploie le ciel infiniment afin que rame s’y essore, là régne intacte et blanche la splendeur. Il n’est plus là ni nuit ni jour, ni formes ni couleurs, et ni paroles, ni paroles.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Rabîndranâth Tagore. L’Offrande lyrique (Gitanjali). Traduction d'André Gide, Paris, Éditions de la Nouvelle revue française, 1917, pages 133-134.
Text Authorship:
- by André Gide (1869 - 1951), no title, appears in Gitanjali (L'Offrande lyrique), no. 67, first published 1914 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 67, first published 1912
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 67 [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Louis Durey (1888 - 1979), "Tu es le ciel", op. 14 no. 4 (1914) [ voice and piano ], from L'offrande lyrique, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2023-01-13
Line count: 15
Word count: 136